We’re a week late but the Fitzhugh is proud to celebrate International Women’s Day, which was March 8.
Pictured are a pair of Jasper’s fiercest first responders, Marmot Basin's assistant patrol director, Katie O'Connor, and firefighter Kim Stark.
Fuchsia Dragon | [email protected]
If you ever catch yourself in a scrape at Marmot Basin, you’d better hope Katie O’Connor is on the hill.
The 25-year-old has spent the last five years rescuing Jasper skiers in sub-zero temperatures and was promoted to assistant patrol director more than a year ago.
The Marmot avalanche and patrol teams are mostly male, with about 30 men and seven women, but O’Connor says the women are just as tough. They all carry backpacks weighing 20 to 50 pounds, or more, and can be called on to haul out an injured skier on an aluminum toboggan.
“It’s a tough job - hiking, working outside in the elements,” she said. “A few of the guys are well over six feet and more than 200 pounds so it might be easier to carry something 50 lbs. Some females are five-foot and 100 lbs soaking wet, so it’s definitely impressive, but to me it’s the job and we are all expected to do the same work.”
It’s not just the physicality that makes O’Connor’s job tough.
“We’ve got girls out there throwing (avalanche) bombs - that’s not the average female job,” she said. “I think it’s kind of cool knowing that it’s a male-dominated profession and seeing women out there.”
In her role as assistant patrol director, O’Connor orchestrates complex rescues from behind the scenes.
“In any major incident or big event that happens I usually take on the incident commander role and get everybody in the positions they need to be in for the task we need to do,” she said.
She did just that in a recent joint operation with Parks Canada.
“I don’t go onto the slope but have a lot of people reporting to me and I am organising up to 30 people in the right place - and as we’re doing this we still have a hill to run,” she explained. “You’re splitting your brain in half and keeping in mind that the hill is still open to the public.”
Before working at Marmot Basin, O’Connor took part in an 80-hour First Aid Course and the Avalanche Operations Level 1 course with the Canadian Avalanche Association.
O’Connor said she takes great pride in her work and is especially proud of her promotion about 18 months ago. She considered her predecessor, Meg Osborne, a role model.
“When I started I thought she was super badass and cool - and I have worked my way into that position,” she said. “It isn’t easy and sometimes the job is very physical and very taxing but it’s very cool to know I am in that position. I do a lot of work with the public and it’s cool for younger girls to see us being involved in this and seeing that it’s possible - not just for men.”
And while being a woman can have its momentary difficulties, O’Connor puts those that judge her in their place - and counts her perks, too.
“I think sometimes it helps being a woman, there are some situations where being a woman makes it easier,” she said. “Sometimes you roll up to a situation where maybe a small little kid is quite injured and they look to you as more of a comfort than another person.
“But other times you rock up to a group of guys who have been skiing in a closed area and you ski over to them to say you’re taking their passes because they are not supposed to be where they are and they’ll be like ‘Hey dude,’ or ‘Hi bro.’
“Some people you’ll tell them they’ve done something wrong and they say they want to speak to the supervisor - and it’s quite nice to say I’m the supervisor.”
Hot buns
At any time of day or night, Kim Stark could be called out to a life-or-death emergency.
The 45-year-old business owner stands at five feet four inches, but throws on full turnout gear, and is specially trained in using the Jaws of Life to cut people from wrecked vehicles.
Stark is a volunteer firefighter for Jasper Fire Department, one of the few females on the team.
“I think there are 30-something of us,” she said (there are about 38), “but females is Amy West (the deputy chief) and two recruits. They are working on being fully-fledged firefighters and all are great - I totally believe they’ll do it.”
The training program is tough and there is no leniency. Stark’s own personal training probably helps - she has completed ultra marathons in Africa and Europe in recent months.
Stark said: “It’s hard. We train with a dummy and she’s the same weight as me, whereas the men are bigger. But that’s my choice. There are fitness and practical exams. It’s a level expectation no matter your gender.”
Stark has been through the same National Fire Protection Association 1001 training career firefighters do in the city, Level 1 and 2, and now she’s on to officer training.
Level 1 is mostly state of fire and Level 2 is vehicle extraction and more of a leadership role.
“It’s pretty neat to have the opportunity to do this sort of training - and mostly local,” she said. “We sometimes go to Hinton,” where there’s a firefighter training apparatus.
Stark is the owner of the Bear’s Paw and Other Paw bakeries in Jasper. She signed up for the fire department five years ago, once she had built her businesses up and they were stable enough that she could take a tiny step back.
She said: “I always wanted to be a volunteer firefighter. I’m not a big person, five foot, four inches, 120 pounds. If you looked at me you probably couldn’t think I can lift, let alone use, the separator (the Jaws of Life) - but we are given the opportunity.
“There are some things I can do that others can’t.”
Stark said she doesn’t feel her gender affects her work with the department.
“I don’t notice it,” she said. “I don’t want to say it doesn’t matter, but I never feel like I don’t belong. The group, guys or girls, are really phenomenal. We are lucky, gender is a moot point."
But there have been occasions she has proved her worth.
“One incident, maybe a year-and-a-half ago, I was cutting a family out of a car,” she said. “I took the separators, the Jaws of Life, and a male firefighter asked if I needed help. I was like ‘No, I’ve got this.’ And when we got back to the Hall, he was like ‘Wow, you’re pretty good.’
“It felt like the best moment ever. He wasn’t a bad person and didn’t mean it maliciously, but I thought ‘I’ve got this.’
“He said ‘Next time, no question.’”
